BETWEEN UNIQUENESS AND IMMEDIACY. SINGULARISM AND THE CRISIS OF MODERN POLITICS
FBK Aula Piccola
Fondazione Bruno Kessler - Polo delle Scienze Umane e sociali
Aula Piccola
FBK Aula Piccola
Fondazione Bruno Kessler - Polo delle Scienze Umane e sociali
Aula Piccola
A new (extreme) form of individualism has gradually emerged in recent decades: singularism. By singularism, I mean a form of individualism characterized by three features: the immediacy of one’s relationship with oneself, with others, and with the world; the emphasis on uniqueness as the foundation of individual value (authenticity); the adoption of self-expression as the ultimate rationale for one’s conduct (expressivism). The individualism of singularity is one of the decisive factors that is undermining the institutions and practices of democracy in the West by making forms of general representation impractical. The single-issue nature and predominantly prohibitive-negative (counter-political) character of social movements, the loss of transcendence in group affiliations, the contradictory nature of preferences, and the unwillingness to engage in mediation have brought modern political systems to a standstill and contributed to the spread of a new form of authoritarian liberalism.
Dimitri D’Andrea | Department of Political and Social Sciences at the University of Florence
Cycle of Seminars: “Solitude and Communion in Religion and Ethics“
Scientific coordination: Massimo Leone, FBK-ISR
The event will be in-person in the FBK Aula Piccola, while seats last, and online, and it will be held in Italian.
Registration by October 2, 2026 at 12:00 a.m. is required to arrange the connection.
Speakers
-
Dimitri D’Andrea, è professore ordinario di Filosofia politica presso il Dipartimento di Scienze politiche e sociali dell’Università di Firenze. È autore di saggi e volumi su Thomas Hobbes, Max Weber, la Shoah e il male politico, la rappresentanza politica e la teoria della democrazia, le sfide etiche e politiche del cambiamento climatico. Negli ultimi anni si è concentrato sull’analisi del singolarismo come forma egemone dell’individualismo contemporaneo e sulla sua genealogia. Fra le sue pubblicazioni più recenti: “Sul significato e sul senso dell’alpinismo. Le metamorfosi delle pratiche ascensionali al tempo del singolarismo”, in M. Alagna, S. Benvenuti, G. Lo Monaco (a cura di), Homo Horizontalis. Ascesi fisiche e ascese alpinistiche, FUP, Firenze 2026; “Significato e senso del lavoro al tempo del singolarismo. Una prospettiva weberiana”, in Politica & Società, 1, 2023; “Individualismo della singolarità e democrazia post-sovrana”, in Eranos Yearbook 75: 2019–2020–2021.
Registration
Registration to this event is mandatory.
RegisterContacts
Organizers
The initiative was also realized thanks to the contribution of "Direzione generale Educazione, ricerca e istituti culturali" of the Ministry of Culture.